Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bryan Morgan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents raised my brothers and I to be gentlemen, hard workers, and contributors in society. I can’t even tell you how many times they’ve been there for me when I needed them. Even when I didn’t even realize I needed them. The trips to sports practices and games, music rehearsals and performances, premieres, field trips, etc. There are so many lessons that will stick with me for the rest of my life. One example is my father coached me for years in our Birmingham YMCA basketball league. Outside of practice and games and in the off season, we would be working on my post moves, jump shots, free throws, and conditioning. I remember I had make a certain number of free throws in a row or ran a lap around the court or something like that. And when I started football and basketball for middle school and high school, he continued to work with me in the offseason even more because being a former collegiate athlete, he knew what it took to be successful!

My mother is a superhero as well. The number of times I have seen her accomplish what she needs to do even when she could be sick as a dog overwhelms me just thinking about it. She is a doctor so of course a LOT of people come to her when they are under the weather, if they are injured, whatever. Well what about when she isn’t 100%? It doesn’t matter. She is there for them. She just finds a way to muster up that energy to do her job.

I can name many other instances but all in all, my parents taught us Morgan brothers how to prepare, how to perform under pressure, and how to be proactive and not wait for someone to tell us when and what to do. They taught us how to do what we have to do even if we don’t feel like it because a lot of days, we’re not going to be 100%. But most importantly, they taught us how to love Jesus, better ourselves, and be compassionate to others.

Bryan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in Birmingham, AL and I was introduced to music from an early age. I still have this picture of myself in my grandmother’s lap as an infant at her piano while she was showing me how to play. In my family, we listened to so much great jazz, gospel, R&B, and classical music. My father played clarinet in his school ensembles and my mother sang in bands with her friends when she was growing up. My aunt Rosalyn played clarinet as well and fun fact: my first clarinet in 5th grade was the same clarinet my aunt used in school!

I sang in our church choir when I was little through most of high school, I started playing the clarinet in 5th grade band and have been playing ever since, and I started experimenting with composition in middle school in my grandparents’ house when I would make up little melodies on their piano. I started notating my ideas in middle school when my friend Aaron Truitt and I discovered Finale Notepad on the internet. Through my family, friends, and teachers, I have been blessed with an amazing experience with music and that inspired me to pursue it professionally.

I earned my bachelors in music at Duke University in 2011 while also playing on the football team. I wrote a lot of music during my time including getting a band piece premiered by the Duke Wind Symphony. I got my masters in music education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2016. I continued to compose more music, including the alma mater for a new high school at the time, Voyager Academy, in Durham, NC and a flute piece for my friend Deshaun King, who premiered it at his Senior Recital at Duke.

I taught music, among other things, at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, PA from 2016-2023. While hard at work teaching, I made a pact with myself to continue to write as much as I could. Fortunately, I had wonderful opportunities to compose and arrange music for the school, including a collaborative song with a student that they sing for Baccalaureate each year and collaborative music with another student for a theater production.

Each summer, during my time at Mercersburg and to this day, I work with my friend Matt Martindale, who is the Director of Bands at Shelby County High School (AL), during his school’s marching band camp. He has given me the opportunity to not only help students learn their music and marching drill, but also arrange music for them and create their pre-show and post-show music and voice over announcements.

In 2023, after completing an advanced professional certificate in Orchestration for Film, TV, and Video Games from Berklee Online, I left my job at Mercersburg Academy and moved to New York to pursue a career as a composer for concert and media. I am currently at New York University pursuing a second masters in screen scoring. I have worked on a number of student films, wrote music for a TV special for the New York University Sports Film Festival, and have assisted composers in studios during recording sessions.

If you need music or a voice over for your upcoming film, commercial, documentary, video game, dance concert, etc. I would love to help you out! If you’d like a new piece for your ensemble, let’s chat! Being a former collegiate athlete, I have the understanding that it takes hard work, dedication, critical thinking, and perseverance to complete a project. I am a big proponent of communication. I want to make sure you have what you need. Let’s make some magic and bring your stories to life!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I’ll talk about two of the biggest blessings in being a composer, arranger, and educator. First of all, I get to do what I love. The joy from writing music and the amazing experience having it performed and/or hearing it in a project that’s out in the world is unreal. People trust me with their projects. That is a gift that I hope to never take for granted.

Secondly, I love the community I have built. Already in my short career, I have gotten to experience different places around the country and the world. I continue to meet some super interesting and inspiring people and that encourages me to keep striving to be the best I can be. Also, I continue to learn. I don’t know everything and thank the Lord I don’t because through these amazing people, my mind, thoughts, and perspectives widen everyday.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

First of all, I give all the glory and honor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My biggest mission is to glorify Him in everything I do because I know without Him, I would be nothing and I wouldn’t have the opportunities I’d had in my life.

I would also love to learn from and/or be on a team of a big time composer then one day work on a major film/video game/project myself.

I want to also use my platform to give back to the communities that have helped me in my journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bryanmorganmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmorganmusic62/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bryan.morgan.96
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-morgan-music/
• Twitter: https://x.com/BMorganMusic62
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BMorganMusic62
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bmorganmusic62
• Other: https://linktr.ee/bmorganmusic62

Image Credits

Isom Morgan III